To hear John Edwards bemoan the selfish consumption of Americans makes me furious.
"I think that Jesus would be disappointed in our ignoring the plight of those around us who are suffering and our focus on our own selfish short-term needs," Edwards told the site. "I think he would be appalled, actually."
Huh, really John? John Edwards and his wife made almost $39 million in the past decade, according to CNN. Give it to the poor, right John?
Sitting on 102 secluded acres surrounded by trees and defended by no-trespassing signs, the 28,000-square-foot estate that Edwards and his family call home has presidential privacy. A main home has five bedrooms and six-and-a-half baths. It's connected by a covered walkway to a bright red addition known as "The Barn," that includes its own living facilities along with a handball court, an indoor pool and an indoor basketball court with a stage at one end. Nearby, the family has cleared space for a soccer field. With a current building value of $4.3 million, the unfinished Edwards estate is already about $1 million more expensive than any other house in the county, according to tax records. It sits on land worth about $1.1 million. (CBS News)
I think that his claim about our personal consumption may have some merit, but if he wants to be a leader, he should start leading by example. Do what I say, not what I do, eh John?
3 comments:
You can file this one along with Al Gore's auspicious carbon-consuming mansion in Tennessee. John's two worlds - the ruling class and the worker bees. The elite, which include John and Al, are God's gift to us worker bees, and we should heed their wisdom. Which is kind of hard to dovetail with his other image, that of the son of a mill-worker who has made it good. Whatever works at the moment, apparently.
Words have such little value these days, it seems. But to bring Jesus into it is simply pandering.
Its elevating the status of words to hold the highest possible value. Its not important what he does, rather what he says, and what he "stands for." I don't know how you can "stand for" something and be living completely opposite, but apparently it has become possible.
The question becomes, is there anyone out there running for office that actually lives what they preach? And if there is not, are words the next best thing...
It's an example of the "MySpace" mentality, where you can portray yourself as you wish others to see you and think of you, regardless of what is actually true and real.
Image consciousness has been around a long, long time. What is new is the misbelief that we can control our image, like a myspace account, allowing others to see only what we want them to see. As opposed to seeing what we actually do.
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